Suffragettes, Suffragists and Antis - the fight for the vote in the Surrey Hills

The women of the Surrey Hills were particularly active in the militant 'suffragette' campaign. Many of its most colourful characters were drawn from the villages around Leith Hill and the Pankhursts planned campaigns from the village of Holmwood which became known as the country headquarters of the WSPU. The village, and town of Dorking, came to national attention in 1912 when the suffragettes staged a 6 week long protest campaign in the area, leading to shopkeepers fearing for their windows.

At the centre of this campaign were Emmeline and Frederick Pethick-Lawrence, without whose wealth, skills, courage and determination we might never have heard of the 'suffragettes'. At their home in Holmwood they gathered around them an extraordinary circle of people who changed their communities and their world, fighting not just for the vote for women, but for peace, freedom and equality across the world. But the area was also home to non-militant campaigners, and to those who opposed the vote for women.

A recently published book tells the story of a community and its involvement in the national debate on women's freedom and equality from the 1860s to the 1950s.